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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRED L. MOGAHAN, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

BOlLER-FLUE CLEANER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 367,826, dated August9, 1887: 1

Application filed December 18, 1886. Serial No. 221.968. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED L. llIoGAHAu, a citizen of the United States,residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana,haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Boiler-Flue Cleaners, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in an improved boiler-flue cleanerfor which Letters Patent No. 313,509 were issued to me March 10, 1885.Said fluecleaner is of that class in which the flue is cleaned by meansof a jet of steam suddenly and forcibly discharged through a suitablenozzle, by means'of which it is directed against and along the interiorwalls of the flue, the discharge of steam into the flue beingcont-rolled by means of a valve which is automatically closed by thesteampressure when the cleaner is removed from the flue.

The objects of my present improvements are to provide means whereby theact of pressing the nozzle into and against the open end of the fluewill operate to draw the valve open from the rear, as well as to push itfrom the front; to provide means for sustaining the nozzle centrally ina flue of considerably larger diameter than the nozzle, and to providefor the discharge of an additional central jet of steam, all ashereinafter fully described.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention.

Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section; Fig. 2, a front elevation;Fig. 3, a rear elevation, and Fig. 4 a perspective view of one of thedetails. I

A is the nozzle having a series of narrow annular discharge-ports, b b bb. The interior walls of said discharge-ports are inclined to the axisof the nozzle, so as to direct the steamjets issuing therefrom at asharp angle against the interior .walls of the flue.

Bis a flat annular plate arranged to slide over the nozzle, andconnected by four arms, 0, with a central hub, d, which is secured by anut, e,

,to the valve-stem f.

F is the valve, which is opened by the back ward movement of the plateB, thus allowing the steam to pass from the steam-chamber h to the portsI).

H is a tube forming the handle of the device and connecting thesteam-chamber h with a T-coupling, 70, having its outer lateral branchclosed by the stuffing-bex 13.

To the vertical branch j of coupling It, I attach a hose or a system ofswivel-jointed pipes, connecting the cleaner with the boiler or othersource of steam-supply.

I is a rod connected at one end to the valve F and passing rearwardlythrough tube H and stuffingbox i, the purpose being to enable theoperator to pull the valve open from the rear.

L is a short vertical handle secured by a clip, m, to tube I-I.

' The parts above described are all shown in my above-mentioned LettersPatent.

I have found in using my device as at first constructed that when thenozzle is made of sufficient size to fill the end of a fine more thanfive or six inches in diameter the implement becomes too heavy to beeasily handled, and when the valve is made large enough to admit thenecessary amount of steam to clean such a flue successfully thatconsiderable effort is required to open the valve against thesteampressure. vI have found, also, that in a large fiue,in order to getthe best results from the annular jets of steam discharged through theports b,it is desirable to supplement those jets with a central jetwhich shall operate to fill the central portion of the flue. To remedythe first of these difficulties, I use the same-sized nozzle for allfines above six inches in diameter, only making the plate B ofsufficient size to fully cover and close the end of the fine. For thepurpose of sustaining the nozzle in a central position in' a fine oflarger diameter than the nozzle, Iform on the face of the plate B anannular flange, Z, which is arranged con-- centrically with the nozzleand is of such external diameter as to fit easily within the flue. Bythe use of different-sized plates B the same cleaner may be used indifferent-sized fines. i

It will be observed that if the operator attempts,after placing thenozzle in the end of the flue N;to assist the opening of the valve endof the rod I,while pushing inward against the handle L, that his forcewill be expended mainly between those two points and he cannot thereforehold the plate B steadily and F by pullingoutward directly on theexposed firmly against the end of the flue. I therefore pivot a lever,11, to an arm, 0, which is secured to the coupling 7:. The upper end oflever a is forked and engages rod I, and the lower end projects belowthe arm,so that a push toward the nozzle on the lower end of the leveroperates to draw the rod outward. By this construction the whole forceof the operator is exerted in one direction to open the valve.

For the purpose ot'enabling the operator to swing lever a and arm 0 tothe right or left-,so as to bring the lever to the most convenientposition, a collar, 1), is formed on the coupling k and arm 0 is formedintegral with two like parts, 1' ands, Fig. .4, which, when securedtogether, form a circular yoke which is adapted to embrace and turneasily upon the collar 1).

For the purpose of providing a central jet of steam, the valve-stemf ismade hollow and provided with several openings,a a,coinn1unieating withits interior, the outer end of the stem being open and the inner endclosed by the valve.

In operation, the cleaner having been connectedwith a source ofsteam-Suppl y, thus admitting steam to the tube H and valve-chainber 71,the operator seizes handle L with one hand and lever 11 with the otherhand. Then inserting flange Z in the open end of the flue, he pushesplate 13 strongly against the end of the flue or the boiler, and thenozzle moves forward, thus carrying the valve-seat away from the valve.At the same time the thrust against the lower end of lever it operatesthrough rod I to draw the valve away from .its seat.

It is obvious that under a moderate pressure of steam the valve may beopened by the lever alone. The steam, passing the valve, rushes with asudden blast through the hollow stem fand the annular ports 1) into theflue and along its walls, thus removing all soot and ashes.

I claim as my invention 1. Ina flue-cleaner, the combination, with thecylindrical nozzle having divergent annular discharge-ports, thevalve'stem, the valve seated within the nozzle,and the annular plate.

connected by radial arms with the valve stem and arranged to slidelongitudinally on the nozzle, of the annular flange formed on the faceof the said plate, and arranged concentrically with the nozzle, wherebythe nozzle is centrally supported in a fine of large diameter,substantially as specified.

2. The combination, with the nozzle, the tube connected therewith, theshort handle L, the interior valve, the valve-stem, and the annularplate connected to the valvcstem and arranged to slide on the nozzle, ofthe rod extending from the valve backward through the tube, the armsecured to the tube, the lever pivoted to the arm and arranged to engagethe rod, and forming aseeoud handle whereby the cleaner is held and thevalve is opened by the operator pushing simultaneously against both ofsaid handles, substantially as speei tied.

3. In a boiler-flue cleaner operating sub stantially as described, thecoupling 7;, having collar j), the arm 0, having the yoke adapted toembrace the collar and to turn on the coupling, the lever pivoted to thearm, the rod, and the valve, all combined and arranged to co-operate asand for the purpose specified.

4:. In a flue-cleaner, the combination, with the hollow cylindricalnozzle having divergent annular discharge-ports, the valve, and thesliding annular plate, of the hollow perforated valve-stem connectingthe valve and the plate, and arranged to operate substantially asspecified.

5. The combination, with the nozzle, the tube connected therewith, thehandle L, secured to the tube, the interior valve and the rod extendingfrom the valve backward through the tube, of the arm secured to thetube, the lever pivoted to the arm and arranged to engage the rod, andforming an auxiliary handle, 13, whereby the nozzle is thrust into theflue and the valveissimultaneously opened by the operator pushingagainst the handles, substantially as specified.

FRED L. MCGAHAN.

\Vitnesses:

H. 1. H001), V. M. H001).

